repair, restore, restoring, bronze sculpture, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot
HOMErepair, restore, restoring,bronze sculpture, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot PRINTSrepair, restore, restoring, bronze sculpture, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot PAINTINGSrepair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues,bronze sculpture, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot SCULPTUREbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot MUSEUMSbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot REVIEWSbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot RESTORATIONbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee potrestore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, repair, coffee pot PROFILEbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot CONTACTbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot INDEXbronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot
bronze sculpture,repair, restore, restoring, fine metal, bronze statues, coffeepot handles, antique mechanisms, art objects, Antiques, coffee pot

 

 

These decorative shelf supports were manufactured by the New York Library Bureau, founded by Melville Dewey who developed the Dewey Decimal system. The Bureau's goal was to completely supply the country's many new libraries opening just after the Civil War. While it is unclear whether Robertson designed these supports and had them produced by The Bureau specifically for The Pequot Library, they are a prime example of Robertson's fanciful, eclectic approach to design. Each support was created as a small sculpture, realized by highly skilled craftsmen who worked in the cast iron production foundries at the end of the 19th Century. After a century, these sturdy parts remained generally intact, but were heavily soiled, and many had become rusted.

In collaboration with The Pequot's Board of Trustees, its director, Dan Snydacker, and the other skilled subcontractors working on the project, we designed the packaging, color coding, and coordinated the trucking for the 6000 shelf ends, weighing 9000 pounds, to and from our facilities in Newport, Rhode Island.

Robertson created six different variations of the supports according to their function. This is a baseboard element before restoration:



Newmans, Ltd. cleaned all the parts, then sprayed the rusted pieces, and any additional ends which would be seen at the aisles, with a matte, rust retardant paint.

A group of large regulars ready for processing.



Here are each of the six design variations, after restoration:

Baseboards, used at the front, floor level of each aisle.


Footers, used on the bottom level of each aisle.



Regular ends, used on all the upper level shelves.



The restoration process now being complete, the entire set has been reboxed, each with a soft custom cut spacer to maintain their surfaces during the move. They are now stored in a climate controlled facility, awaiting the completion of the Library’s reconstruction. They will then be moved by Newmans, Ltd. to the Pequot Library and reinstalled with their freshly cleaned wooden shelves, and the books will be replaced.



The following icons link to pages detailing other aspects of the project.